Senate blocks shutdown bills; Trump wants wall down payment for CR

By

Daniel Uria and Danielle Haynes

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky departs the Senate floor at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. The Senate failed to pass two competing bills, a Republican proposal of $5.7 billion to fund President Trump's border wall and a Democratic bill to re-open the partially shut down government. Photo by Mike Theiler | License Photo

Furloughed government workers and supporters protest Wednesday against the federal government shutdown on Capitol Hill. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., departs the Senate floor after joining other House members to witness a vote at the Capitol. Photo by Mike Theiler | License Photo

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California makes remarks during a briefing at the Capitol on Thursday. Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI | License Photo

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is questioned by the press as she departs the Senate floor Thursday. Photo by Mike Theiler | License Photo

Jan. 24 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump said he'd only support a continuing resolution to fund the government for three weeks if he receives a "large down payment" to pay for a border wall Thursday after the Senate failed to pass either of two bills to reopen the government.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer were meeting to end the deadlock on a spending bill. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaking from the Senate floor, said he told Trump that Senate leaders are discussing a three-week continuing resolution.

"As was made clear to Senator Lindsay Graham, the three-week CR would only work if there is a large down payment on the wall," Sanders said.

Earlier Thursday, Senators voted 50-47, several votes short of the 60 needed to pass legislation supported by Trump and McConnell. The legislation included the $5.7 billion Trump requested to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and would have funded the government through the end of the fiscal year in September.

The chamber also declined to pass a Democrat-supported bill, which included no border all funding and would have funded the border for three weeks, through Feb. 8. The Democrat-controlled House passed the same legislation Jan. 16 with a vote of 237-187.

Both bills would have amended the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2019 and provided funding to a quarter of government agencies that have been closed for more than a month, returning 800,000 federal employees to paid work.

McConnell introduced a bill based on Trump's proposal to reopen the government by offering protections for about 1 million undocumented immigrants in exchange for funds for the border wall.

The bill would have funded the government through Sept. 30 while also providing $12.7 billion in hurricane and wildfire disaster relief. It also would have extended the Violence Against Women Act, which expired at the start of the shutdown, through Sept. 30.

In an attempt to compromise with Democrats, the bill also included a three-year delay on Trump's move to end protection for 700,000 beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and 310,000 Temporary Protected Status holders.

It also provided $800 million for urgent humanitarian assistance, $805 million for drug detection technology and money to pay for 2,750 new border agents and 75 new immigration judges.

It also included changes to rules and requires minor children from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala to apply for U.S. asylum from their home countries, rather than at the U.S. border. It limits children able to qualify for the asylum program at 15,000 per year.

Schumer's bill

Schumer described his bill as "essentially identical" to the one passed by the House earlier this month and ignored by the Senate.

"The president's proposal demands a wall and radical legal immigration changes in exchange for opening up the government," Schumer said. "[My bill] demands nothing in exchange for opening up the government."

The measure would have given funding to reopen the government agencies for three weeks, until Feb. 8 -- giving Congress more time to fully weigh security issues. It also provided $14 billion in unrelated disaster-relief funding for hurricanes, wildfires and other incidents.

The bill did not earmark any money for border security -- meaning it wouldn't pay for a wall, more border agents, judges or technology. It also didn't directly address the DACA or TPS programs, although both are likely to remain in place for at least several months due to orders by federal judges.

Ultimately, there are no immigration-related procedures in Schumer's bill, leaving U.S. asylum rules unchanged.

The prospects of each bill

Both measures required 60 votes to pass the Senate, where Republicans control 53 seats to Democrats' 47. Many experts said passage for either measure was unlikely.

McConnell hailed the president's proposal as a "bold, comprehensive offer," adding it's "the only proposal that can be signed by the president and immediately reopen the government."

"Enough political spite. Enough showboating for 'the Resistance.' The President has produced a fair compromise that pairs full-year government funding with immigration policy priorities from both sides. It's time to make a deal," McConnell wrote on Twitter Wednesday.

Democrats, however, are holding firm in their resolve to oppose paying billions toward a border wall.

On the Senate floor Wednesday, Schumer said the president's proposal was going "nowhere fast" and was not made in good faith, as he said Trump was responsible for killing the programs he is now offering to extend.

"The president single-handedly canceled DACA and TPS protections," Schumer said. "Now offering some temporary protections in exchange for the wall is not a compromise, it's more hostage taking."

Some Republicans have expressed support for a stopgap bill like Schumer's to reopen the government -- but even if the short-term version would have succeeded, it would have found resistance on Trump's desk. The president has said he won't approve any bill that doesn't include money for a wall.

"Without a Wall our Country can never have Border or National Security," Trump tweeted Tuesday. "With a powerful Wall or Steel Barrier, Crime Rates (and Drugs) will go substantially down all over the U.S. The Dems know this but want to play political games. Must finally be done correctly. No Cave!"

Federal workers rally against shutdown

The Senate on Thursday passed a bill to ensure furloughed federal workers will get back pay as workers carried out demonstrations calling for an end to the shutdown. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Members and supporters of the National Air Controllers Association and other aviation industry associations protest the partial federal government shutdown at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Trump and Congress were at a budget stalemate as Democrats refuse to provide Trump with the $5.7 billion funding request for a southern border wall. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

On Wednesday, Trump walked out of a meeting with lawmakers, calling it a "waste of time." Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Rep. Peter Defazio, D-Ore., speaks at the rally. He later tweeted, "A wall is not impenetrable. You can go under it, over it, around it, & through it. A wall won’t stop drugs or undocumented immigrants from coming into this country. We need smart investment in our nation's border security -- not a barrier doomed to fail." Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

While federal employees show their disapproval of the shutdown, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell blocked two bills Thursday that were passed by the House last week to reopen the government. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., speaks to furloughed government workers and their supporters during a protest. He told the crowd, "I'm happy to stand here with you and my other colleagues in unity to tell President Trump 'Stop holding America hostage with your politics.'" Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., told the crowd, "I want to thank all of you. Every federal employee who has gone to work or been furloughed and has done their job, even though this White House has not done their job." Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Members and supporters of the AFL-CIO labor union join the protest at the White House. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, which organized the protest in front of the White House, is the largest federation of unions in the United States. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo

The Federal Aviation Administration closed its training academy in Oklahoma City because of the shutdown, which has slowed down training and placed recent graduates on furlough. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

The Food and Drug Administration has stopped performing most domestic food inspections during the partial government shutdown. Without a deal to reopen the government, the regulatory agency will have to force furloughed workers to come back without pay. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo